The Maley Drive extension project appears to have been successful in alleviating traffic congestion along some of Sudbury’s major corridors.
This, according to the latest traffic counts compared against the projections used in a 2016 business case to help justify the project.
“It’s hitting everything that we anticipated for it,” city engineering services director David Shelsted told city council members during a meeting earlier this week.
Although traffic count results vary in the report he delivered, overall averages point to Maley Drive’s success in redirecting traffic toward the bypass road along Sudbury’s north end.
In the business case, the daily traffic volume at three locations on Maley Drive was projected to average 16,667. The 2023 actual daily traffic volume at these three locations averaged out to 19,767.
Conversely, the daily traffic volume at three arterial locations was projected to drop by varying degrees as a result of traffic rerouting to the Maley Drive extension, averaging 6,067 vehicles. Using 2020 traffic counts (2023 was not used because The Kingsway has been under construction), actual daily traffic volume has dropped by an average of 6,233 vehicles.
There has been a 30 to 40 per cent reduction of trucks on Lasalle Boulevard, and a 75 per cent reduction of articulating trucks on Lasalle Boulevard.
The city had predicted the Maley Drive extension shifting between 1,000 and 1,500 trucks per day from city corridors, but the actual daily traffic volume has been estimated at 1,400.
All of this means arterial streets, such as The Kingsway and Lasalle Boulevard, are deteriorating at a slower rate than before the Maley Drive extension was built, Shelsted said.
It has been estimated that greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 2,459 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year as a result of the Maley Drive extension, and drivers will be spared approximately $11.1 million per year via reduced traffic congestion and travel times.
“I have not met one person who does not think this is an asset,” Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann said of Maley Drive, calling attention to the fact the project had its naysayers back in the day.
Asked whether the project has helped the city achieve its economic goals, city growth and infrastructure general manager Tony Cecutti said it’s difficult to tell what, exactly, spurs economic growth, but that Maley Drive plays a role.
“We’re hearing very positive feedback from the commercial sector, both the mining companies and companies involved in commercial transportation of goods,” he said.
The project also came in under its $80.1-million budget, which freed up approximately $4 million to four-lane the project beyond its original scope for phase one, between Barrydowne Road and Lansing Avenue.
The project's cost was split equally between the municipal, provincial and federal governments, with the federal government’s contribution announced during Justin Trudeau’s first trip to Sudbury as prime minister.
Although promoted by city staff as “on-budget,” it does not factor in whatever cost ends up associated with an ongoing lawsuit related to the project.
At the latest update, Dalron Construction Ltd. was seeking more than $11 million from the city for outstanding compensation for allowing the Maley Drive extension to be built on land owned by the developer.
Maley Drive has been divided into three phases, and the final component of phase one, a roundabout, is currently under construction.
The two-lane roundabout at the intersection of Frood Road and Lasalle Boulevard is projected to cost $4.5 million, of which the province pledged $2 million last year.
Replacing the currently signalized intersection with a roundabout has been a long-planned component of the project’s second phase and will be similar to other roundabouts already in use along Maley Drive, including one a short distance east at the Collège Boréal entrance.
The roundabout is expected to open this year, and construction will be completed in 2024.
The project’s second phase is proposed to include expanding Lasalle Boulevard to four lanes from Frood Road to Municipal Road 35, and expanding Maley Drive to four lanes from Lansing Avenue to Falconbridge Highway.
It’s unclear when the second phase will inch forward, though Shelsted said it might make an appearance in the 2024-27 capital budget city staff plan to table on Nov. 15.
Phase three will extend the eastern edge of Maley Drive to Highway 17 at the bypass, which is listed as a long-term priority in the city’s Transportation Master Plan.
The initial $80.1-million leg of the Maley Drive extension project was approved by the city council of the day with a vote of 12-1 in March 2016. Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini was alone in voting against it.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
